I recently purchased the Motiv Stonegrinder at Costco for $199. I will admit, the colors are not too appealing but other than that, I think it is a terrific bike. It has the best shifting (smooth) of all department store bikes I have waisted my time with. It is very stable and if something goes wrong the company is more than likely to replace it like they did my foot pedal. It also hauls ass if you know what I mean with little effort. However, I have not tried extreme mountain biking...i mostly use mine for college.
Posted by Hugh on 1/19/00

Thanks for your input. I just purchased the same bike and wanted some input. Where do you get your tuneups?
Posted by Toby Curtiss a 59 year old riding a Motiv Stonebreaker from San Diego, CA on 02/28/01
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hi jodie-me and the little woman were in sufergo yesterday, i like the specialized fsr for $599. i think the motiv aint no good for offroad ridin. ;-]
Posted by Tomw a 54 year old from covina on 12/18/99
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My buddy bought a motiv full suspension 4 months ago. Last night the plastic bushing in the main pivot froze up. When we suspended it from a service rack by the seat post the seat post tube weld cracked and seperated all but 1/8" through. All from the weight of the bike. 300 bucks at costco gets you a 300 dollar coscto bike, and that aint much. Save your money for something that is not intended to be disposed of before the tires wear out.
Posted by Scott a 37 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Litespeed Owl Hollow MTS on 3/17/00
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I find my Motiv Rockridge to be a fine machine; smooth, reliable and agile on rough paths, great for daily commuting in Washington, D.C. The gears and brakes work like a charm. And I can't complain about the price -- I picked it up at the dump for free.
Posted by Cal on 12/18/99
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Posted by Whack on September 23, 1999 at 23:08:00:
Whatever you do friend please steer clear of the dept. stores and discount warehouses. If you realy feel that you must get as much bike as you can for the least amount of cash then check out Supergo.com. It would be better to spend your hard earned money at a local bike shop where you'll get more personable service, and yes, it will cost more than Supergo but if you must pinch the pennies at least they can sell you a real bike for cheap. You can then pay your LBS to service it for you. Trust me here, I long ago bought a lesser bike and had to bite the bullet when my abilities outgrew the bike. The worst thing that could happen is that you'll end up not liking the sport and you'll have a nice bike to either sell or give to someone in need. I'm sure your cycling experience will be much more enjoyable if you plunk down your cash on a real bike. Good luck and welcome to one of the greatest and cleanest sports in the world!
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Posted by TK on September 21, 1999 at 23:02:27:
This message actually intended for all newbies to MTB'ing. It seems that many people want to get into MTB'ing, and they end up looking at dept store/Costco bikes that may resemble proper Mtn bikes, but will reveal their major inadequacies as soon as they are required to do any real off road duty. The lure is simple, low price. But this is a illusion, as you enjoy riding more and more you will be eventually forced to upgrade to a real bike at some point anyways, so the $199 you plunked down will be down the tubes and then you'll be forced to buy yet another bike. My advice is buy a real bike from a bike shop on sale. Hell, buy last years or 2 years ago model, it doesnt matter, as long as its not a bike from a dept store. However, as a new person to the sport, I would not recommend buying used unless you know someone that is knowledgeable about bikes and that can help you sift thru the abused junk vs. the worthwhile bikes. Good Luck
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The bikes that are sold at Costco, Motiv and Mongoose, are designed specificaly for street riding. The Mongoose dual suspension bike is extremely heavy and made of plain old steel. The weld marks are plainly visible on the bike. What do you expect for $259? The Motiv bike is lighter, though it only has the front shocks. These bikes are not advertised as "hard-core" mountain bikes. Costco does occasionaly get Trek and Cannondale bikes in at great prices. They are usually older models, but they are still awesome bikes. For a beginner who isn't sure if they realy want to get into mountain biking, the Motiv is not a bad choice. Do you remember what happened to your first mt bike? I'd rather have $199 down the tubes than $500 I paid for the Trek that some salesman at a LBS sold me on!
Posted by NTouchable a 24 year old Downhiller from AZ on 1/06/00
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Posted by Bingo on September 22, 1999 at 01:21:20:
I could not agree more. In fact if you want to read about department store bikes check out the Nov issue of Mountain Bike Action. They tested the costco Mongoose and found it dangerous as bought and worthless on a trail. I also seem to remember an issue of Mountain Biking a few months ago that was full of department store screw ups things like forks being installed backwards and brakes that were so badly installed that they were either ineffective or against the wheel all the time. Better to go to a LBS and let the people there help you figure what you need that is in your price range. Even if you don't buy a bike from them they can give you an idea of what you are looking for.
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Posted by FRANK on September 21, 1999 at 11:21:24:
I'm not an expert. But it sure doesn't ring a bell over here. My suggestion to you is. Stick with brand that's been around for a while..
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Posted by Mark on September 21, 1999 at 12:53:06:
I bet you saw it at Costco. I bought my wife one a few years back. Has a chromoly frame and lower end shimano parts (Alivio). She does not ride off-road, so it is fine for bike paths and parks. However, if you are planning on trail riding (with real dirt and rocks, etc.) I would not recommend it. Quite heavy, etc. You could get a decent aluminum frame model for not much more. But overall, for general use, it is not a bad bike.
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i have a motiv highridge and it is an awesome bike the only thing is that my cassette or freewheel (whatever you want to call it broke like 2 weeks after i got it but all i did is called up motiv and in three days i had a new one for free that is a whole lot better than the first but otherwise i have done almost everything and its in perfect shape
Posted by Proriderphil a 17 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a motiv highridge from california on 4/02/00
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I Own a Motiv Rockpoint, a aluminum full suspesion model. I have had the bike for almost 6 months and int he first week or two of having it i put Over 40 miles of intermediate trail riding on it. I have absolutly no complaints, my friend has a trek model that i ride with, he has more complaints than i do, i didnt even have to make an adjustment for many miles, where as he was making adjustments everytime we went out... and he now has to take it to the shop. I believe that for and entering rider trying to decide if they will like riding.. a motiv is great... you can then decide if you like it then upgrade later, and if you feel like it you may even just be able to upgrade your components of the bike you have, i like my mike and that is probably what i will do.
Posted by Jacob a 19 year old Weekend Warrior riding a Motiv Rockpoint from Mi on 10/04/00
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Man! I just recently bought a Motiv Rockpoint. WOW! It's the greatest for $299. Everyone asks me if I paid $1,000 for it. I always say I paid $600 for it and everyone's answer is: "no way, that's too cheap for that bad-ass bike". I'm telling you nothing like a Motiv.
Posted by Louis Kunasek a 20 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Motiv Rockpoint from Florida on 10/05/00
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MOTIV is a very nice bike for the money. However when purchasing these bikes or any other bike remember that most of them are out together ny some unknowledgable underpaid employee who is trying to get through their eight hours for the day. ALWAYS, ALWAYs check your brakes and all bolts conecting to your frame. MOTVI is no exception. I broke my neck because I failed to safty check everything before riding. But, MOTIV is still a nice bike for the money.Posted by Hurtintexas a Weekend Warrior riding a MOTIV Ground Pounder 7005 on 05/19/02
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MOTIV is a very nice bike for the money. However when purchasing a MOTIV or any other bike remember that most of them are put together by some unknowledgable underpaid employee who is trying to get through their eight hours for the day. ALWAYS, ALWAYS check your brakes and all bolts connecting to your frame. MOTVI is no exception. I broke my neck because I failed to saftey check everything before riding. But, MOTIV is still a nice bike for the money.Posted by Hurtingintexas a Weekend Warrior riding a MOTIV Ground Pounder 7005 on 05/19/02
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Right on Hurting!!!You can sure tell the LBS employees and tools posting on this topic - Motiv is a much better value than lots of other so called "real" mtb's being sold to those who love to pay too much for a "brand name" bike. The fact of the matter is the Motiv Groundpounder has a better basic component package than most of the bikes- including Treks-sold in the LBS for $350 -$500 to the uneducated, so why not buy it for $249 and then make the same upgrades you would to that $500 bike when you are sure you want to get into the sport to a greater extent? Sure, it's frame is made in Taiwan (or China), but so are all frames sold in the US by all manufacturers of bikes under approx. $800 - including Specialized, Trek, etc. As a matter of fact, only the very top of the line Specialized frame is made in the US - all others originate in the East. There's no comparing a Groundpounder to a Mongoose ( which, by the way, sells a bike for over $800 which some fools buy - apparently because paying way too much makes it a "real" mtb...go figure...)Sorry to hear about your injury - hope you're mended and riding again!!!

Posted by Travlr39 a 38 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a Motiv Groundpounder from Montana on 05/24/02
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